The Bird That Lost its Song. A Parable
The regent honeyeater bird is in trouble—it's losing its song. Once an abundant species in south-eastern Australia, now just 300 remain, and with so few mates to learn from, the males are forgetting their own song and trying to mimic the songs of other birds instead—leaving the female honeyeaters confused and their numbers in decline. Losing
Relax. You Don’t Need to Have an Opinion on Everything
So, after that interview, are you Team Markle or Team Windsor? You have made your mind up already, right? After Oprah's interview with Harry and Meghan, public discussion has been polarised. On Monday I heard activists swear that British royalty was inherently racist on the basis of Meghan's claims alone, while tabloid newspapers, unable to tolerate any criticism of the
Healing the Wounds of Jesus’ Followers
I write this with a heavy heart, as heavy as yours may already be from the revelations of Ravi Zacharias' hidden life. If you hadn't heard of him, Zacharias was considered one of this era's greatest Christian apologists. If you haven't heard the news, an independent investigation found he had systematically groomed vulnerable women over many years,
Six Ways to Tend Your Soul in Times of Turmoil
How can we cultivate, care for, tend our souls in these difficult times? Here are six strategies and practices.
The Best Books I Read in 2020
In what has become a fun annual tradition, here is my year in reading - all the fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, theology and other titles I read with short reflections on each. Some of these books happen to have been released this year too, but many are older. I used to publish this list around
Three Ways to Reflect on Your Life
In his famous poem The Four Quartets, TS Elliott says "We had the experience, but missed the meaning." How true! Too often life can become one long series of unrelated events - a conversation here, an appointment there, walking the dog, working through our to-do lists - and we miss any deeper significance they hold. If you're anything like me, 2020 is ending in a rush
You’re Both So Different? That Could Be What Makes Your Marriage Work
After 21 years, I sometimes look at my wife Merryn and wonder how our marriage works. I’m a writer and speaker, Merryn is a statistician. I work with words, she works with numbers. I want beauty, she wants function. And that’s only the start of our differences! Here’s what’s helped us stick together…
We Need a New Renaissance of Faith. These Three Commitments Can Help
Five hundred years ago the Renaissance brought an explosion of art, science, geographical discovery and religious ideas into the world. What would it take to see a new renaissance (rebirth) of wisdom, creativity, community and faith in this coming decade?
Let’s Turn This Problem into a Quest
A few years ago I wrote a book about starting again after broken dreams. Any naivete I still had about the world and its problems was soon dispelled as hundreds of readers shared their own broken dreams with me. To this day, the hardest part is replying to these stories without resorting to cliché. What Good
Grief is the Honour We Give to Those Who Loved Us Well
Earlier this year, before Covid made things complicated, I attended a thanksgiving service for a much-loved member of our church. We lost Eileen to cancer at just 68 years of age. As the service began, more chairs had to be put out to accommodate the number of people arriving. And it led to a lesson learned